We're very happy to have welcomed so many new members in the last couple of months. However, we have noticed that in different sections of the board some of the AU rules have been forgotten. Therefore we would like to ask everyone to take a look at the rules again and keep them in mind while posting. That way we can ensure that the forum will continue to be a fun and nice environment for everyone Besides this general reminder, there are a few topics we would like to emphasize:

Post with contentOne of the things that we have seen in several topics is one word posts and posts that lack content. When you post your opinion about something, please try to explain why you have that opinion instead of just agreeing with the previous poster. Arguments will improve the discussion, and it will also make it easier for others to reply to your post. From now on we will delete one-word posts or posts that otherwise add nothing to the discussion to prevent the threads from clogging up. If you feel your discussion is getting off-topic, consider continuing that discussion via PM.Another related subject is the use of GIFs in your posts. As GIFs are often used to express feelings or thoughts, they are rarely accompanied by words. Therefore we want to ask you to restrict the use of GIFs to the "How are you feeling [GIF edition] thread".

The Green Dragon (Your Life section)An important aspect of this section has always been that it is a place to discuss the more personal and private information, which is why it’s not accessible to non-members. As a consequence, in this section posts with some content are expected. Try to keep this in mind when posting in this section. For example, instead of posting several times a day in the “What Happened Today” thread, just describe your day at the end of the day. Also, we are moving the “Little Details of Everyday Life” to the Misc. Randomness section, as we feel it will be better suited there.

Adult topicsLately we’ve also seen an increasing amount of mentions of cigarettes and medication. Please consider the younger ages of some other forum members, and try to keep mentioning these topics (harmful/illegal medication, drugs and alcohol) to a minimum. As said before, we want to keep this forum a nice and safe environment for members of different ages.

Respect each otherTo ensure that everyone feels welcome and able to express themselves here, please respect other people's opinions, even though they might differ from your own ideas and opinions. We encourage discussion, but remember to accept that some people might have other ideas than you.

Problems, questions or anything else you’d like to discuss?Just contact one of us ! Although we cannot always be online when something goes wrong, you can always PM one of the mods. We check our inbox as often as possible and will respond ASAP.

I find double or triple or quadriple posting in the Completely Misc. LotR section to be a problem.

It can take the fun out of some of the games, to come along and find that the same person has posted five times in a row, within an hour space of each other.

Well if it's allowed in the rules of the game, then I don't see why it's a problem. Especially if they're posts are all together, then obviously other people aren't posting. If they want to continue without having to wait hours on end for one other person to post then, then I think that's fine.

Out of curiosity, why should medication not be mentioned? I mean, I don't see why talking about my meds would be harmful to younger users.

It's not harmful for me, (I would consider myself one of the younger users) but more of uncomfortable.I get uneasy when things like that and drugs and stuff are mentioned.

I agree with drugs because drugs are illegal in most places of the world. Same with underaged drinking or other illegal things. To me it'd make sense that it wouldn't fit on a forum like this. But medication is not the same as drugs. Right now for example I'm eating vitamins because I had surgery - it falls under medication because they are specified due to the type of surgery I had and they are prescription as well. But surely if I mentioned saying "I forgot to take my meds today" wouldn't make you uncomfortable? If I said "I took an overdose of my meds today" then again, I get it. Because that's harmful and reads like I was trying to harm myself - that could definitely make someone feel uncomfortable, regardless of their age. But someone saying "I forgot my inhaler today" or "I almost forgot to take my meds today" - why would that make anyone feel uncomfortable? That way of the rule I don't agree with, because I don't see how that's harmful even for younger users. Surely even younger users are aware that there are medications that people sometimes have to eat for various reasons?

Joined: 30 December 2006Posts: 3507Location: Over the Edge of the WildCountry:Gender: Female

^Given that it's mentioned under "Adult topics" I think it's pretty clear that this concerns mentions of harmful/illegal medication etc. Mentioning how you forgot to take your meds today isn't a problem

I think something that might need clearing up is that "post with content" doesn't just mean that your post needs to be about something, it means that it should concern the topic of the thread. It's good that people have conversations and get to know each other, but if you feel that your conversation with someone starts to move from the topic of the thread to something completely unrelated, you should consider continuing it via pm.

I personally think the limit on the amount of 'characters' with a signature should be increased. With only 250 characters, someone times it's difficult to even have two banners, let alone the amount that's the maximum. Sometimes, when people use the image uploader of their choice, they aren't given tiny links to use.

I don't see what the problem with mentioning legal medication either. Like, for example, are we not allowed to mention head ache pills? Sleeping pills? Most younger people already know about them.

Joined: 30 December 2006Posts: 3507Location: Over the Edge of the WildCountry:Gender: Female

^You can use tinyurl.com to convert your long urls to shorter ones. That way you'll be able to have more stuff in your sig.

I think, mods, that at this point you need to make it 100% clear what you mean when you say "don't talk about meds". I personally don't find it difficult to understand, because I think it's a matter of regulating yourself and just thinking twice about whether what you post could be offensive/harmful/unsettling/what have you to others, but I can understand that others would want more clarification.

Joined: 26 October 2005Posts: 2952Location: Between the Shire and EreborCountry:Gender: Female

Sorry for the late reaction! We've all been very busy lately and didn't spend a lot of time on the forum.

About the medication: sorry for the confusion. We did mean harmful or illegal medication. It'll be changed in the first post to avoid further confusion

Anameleth, thanks for your suggestion about "post with content". It is indeed very easy to get off topic while having a nice and interesting discussion, but it's easier for others to join in when the conversation stays on topic. I'll add something about that to the first post.

Erin, some of the games in the Misc. threads have specific rules about double posting. For example, in the "Best Character Elimination" you are allowed to post once every 60 minutes, even when no other persons have posted in between. So in these specific threads double posting is okay.

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